Super permit regulation: Significant amendments to mining, energy and environmental legislation

Recent Developments

Law No. 7554 on the Amendment of Certain Laws (“Law No. 7554”), which introduces substantial changes to mining, energy, environmental and pasture legislation, entered into force following its publication in the Official Gazette dated 24 July 2025 and numbered 32965. The text of Law No. 7554 is available here (in Turkish).
What does Law No. 7554 introduce?

Law No. 7554 introduced significant amendments to Mining Law No. 3213 (“Mining Law”), Electricity Market Law No. 6446 (“Electricity Market Law”), Law No. 5346 on the Utilization of Renewable Energy Resources for Electricity Generation (“Renewable Energy Law”) and Environmental Law No. 2872 (“Environmental Law”). The amendments aim to accelerate and streamline the permitting processes, ensuring that permits are processed by the relevant authorities through a single body whenever possible. In addition, the amendments envisage various mechanisms to facilitate the effective management of strategic resources.
The key changes and innovations can be summarized as follows:

1. Regulations on energy legislation

a. Electricity Market Law

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Law No. 7554 amended the Electricity Market Law, introducing significant provisions to accelerate renewable energy investments.

• One of the key changes is the introduction of Provisional Article 33 to the Electricity Market Law, granting the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) power to carry out urgent expropriation procedures for renewable energy investments. Under this provision, the EMRA may, until 31 December 2030, conduct urgent expropriation procedures to acquire privately owned real properties needed for generation facilities holding preliminary or generation licenses based on renewable energy resources. This period can be extended for an additional five years by a presidential decree. This amendment is designed to accelerate land acquisition processes and swiftly resolve ownership issues for renewable energy projects.
• Under Provisional Article 4 of the Electricity Market Law, the duration of existing discounts currently applied to permits, leases and easement transactions has been extended. Specifically, for electricity generation facilities that will be commissioned by 31 December 2030 and operate under a mining operating license and permit, using minerals listed under subparagraph (b) of Group IV in Article 2 of the Mining Law as input, as well as for access roads and energy transmission lines, including those to be transferred to the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation (TEİAŞ) and distribution companies up to the grid connection point specified in their licenses, an 85% discount may be applied to permit, lease, easement and usage fees for 15 years from the license date. This extends the latest commissioning date for facilities eligible for the discount from 31 December 2020 to 31 December 2030 and increases the discount period from 10 to 15 years.
• As an important amendment, Provisional Article 34 has been added to the Electricity Market Law. Pursuant to it, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (“Ministry”) may issue a “Generation Facility Conformity Certificate” for licensed electricity generation facilities and their mandatory infrastructure components that were constructed without a building permit or occupancy permit and were partially or fully operational before 31 December 2024. This will be done if the facilities are incorporated into the zoning plans, the application is submitted by the generation license holder within one year from the effective date of this provisional article, and the relevant technical reports and documents are submitted. A fee equal to 1/1,000 of the total investment amount will be paid, determined based on the current unit investment cost set by the EMRA for the relevant facility type. This certificate will be issued as a single document covering all structures within the scope of the electricity generation facility and the mandatory infrastructure elements of electricity generation, and will also take the place of the workplace opening and operating license. For electricity generation facilities within this scope, any administrative sanctions, demolition orders and administrative fines imposed under Zoning Law No. 3194 (“Zoning Law”) prior to the effective date of this provisional article will not be enforced, and any prior objections or pending lawsuits will be dismissed ex officio given that there is no ground for rendering a judgment.

b. Renewable Energy Law

Significant amendments have also been introduced to the Renewable Energy Law under Law No. 7554, as follows:

• An 85% discount will be applied to permit, lease, easement and right-to-use fees for 10 years from the license date for the generation facilities based on the renewable energy resources within the scope of the Renewable Energy Law, as well as transportation roads and energy transmission lines, including those to be transferred to TEİAŞ and distribution companies, up to the point of connection to the system specified in their licenses, which will be put into operation until 31 December 2030. Previously, for facilities within the scope of this article to benefit from the discount, they had to be commissioned until 31 December 2025; this amendment extends that deadline.
• In addition, the details of the permitting process for installing wind or solar energy-based electricity generation facilities on forest-designated real properties have now been clarified, as follows:
  • The forestry permit will now be valid for the same period as the preliminary license. If the project fails to obtain a generation license, the permit will be terminated ex officio. If the EMRA notifies the relevant authority of the generation license, the permit will be extended until the end of the license term.
  • Permits for measurement and drilling activities during the project and feasibility stages may be granted without requiring the project to hold a preliminary license or generation license.
  • Permit applications must be finalized within 60 days from the date of submission.
  • During the preparation of the project introduction file or environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for wind or solar energy-based electricity generation facilities, ornithological observation will be mandatory if wind projects are located on major bird migration routes or solar projects are situated at bottlenecks along these routes. For wind and solar projects in other areas, such observation will not be required.
• Another significant amendment concerns zoning procedures of wind or solar power generation facilities, as follows:
  • Without prejudice to the exceptions set forth in Article 4 of the Zoning Law, the Ministry may also approve zoning plans, parceling plans and their amendments for wind or solar energy-based electricity generation facilities holding a preliminary license or generation license. The zoning plans and parceling plans approved by the Ministry will enter into force on the date of approval and will be announced on the Ministry’s website for 15 days. If no objections are raised during this period, the plans will become final at the end of the announcement period.
  • The Ministry may also issue building licenses, occupancy permits and workplace opening and operating licenses for the structures and appurtenances within wind or solar energy-based electricity generation facilities holding a preliminary license or generation license.
  • If construction has begun without a license in the facilities whose zoning plans have been approved by the Ministry, and for structures found to be in violation of the construction permit issued by the Ministry, the Ministry will take the necessary actions and impose administrative sanctions under Articles 32 and 42 of the Zoning Law. If a demolition decision is taken regarding the buildings, the demolition will be executed by the metropolitan municipality, municipality or special provincial administration, as applicable, upon the Ministry’s notification.
  • In construction permit applications for renewable energy-based electricity generation facilities holding a preliminary license or generation license, a court decision granting possession of the real property based on an urgent expropriation decision will be considered as a document to be evaluated within the requirements for obtaining a license.
  • The procedures and principles regarding the implementation of these amendments will be set out in a regulation to be issued by the Ministry.

Finally, pursuant to Pasture Law No. 4342 (“Pasture Law”), unless the purpose of allocation is changed, pastures and summer and winter grazing lands cannot be used in any way other than as specified in the Pasture Law, whereas the Pasture Law already allowed for certain changes in the allocation purpose. Law No. 7554 has introduced an additional amendment: lands required for renewable energy resource areas (YEKA) designated under the Renewable Energy Law may now also be subject to changes in allocation purposes.

2. Regulations on mining legislation

Law No. 7554 introduces significant changes to the Mining Law, which can be summarized as follows:

• References and expressions relating to the “environmental compliance guarantee” have been removed from the definition of “License Fee” under the Mining Law. Amounts to be collected for environmental rehabilitation will now be regulated under “rehabilitation fee.” In addition, several new concepts related to mining activities have been incorporated into the Mining Law, including “Board,”^[1] “Rehabilitation,” “Rehabilitation Fee Account” and “Collection Office.”
• The coordinates of special environmental protection zones, areas protected under National Parks Law No. 2873, wetlands, wildlife protection and development areas, forests, cultural and tourism protection and development zones declared under Tourism Encouragement Law No. 2634, tourism centers, areas to be protected under Coastal Law No. 3621, first-degree military restricted zones, areas with approved 1/5,000 scale zoning plans, sites under Law No. 2863 on the Protection of Cultural and Natural Assets and power plants, organized industrial zones, industrial zones, and oil, natural gas and geothermal pipelines allocated for non-mining purposes and approved by the General Directorate of Mining Petroleum Affairs (GDMPA) will be reported to GDMPA by the relevant institutions.
• In the notified areas (except forests), GDMPA will ask the relevant institution for its opinion on the project and request permission before issuing a license. The relevant institution will complete its evaluations and respond to the permit request within three months. If no response is provided within this period, GDMPA will grant an additional one-month extension. If there is still no decision by the end of this extension, the permit will be deemed granted. These permits will remain valid during the transition to an operating license or extension of an operating license in that area. However, the administration may still request changes to the project or the rehabilitation plan.
• For the exploration and operation of mines within state forests, as well as for facilities, roads, energy, water, communication and infrastructure required for mining activities, a 24-month free permit will be granted under Forestry Law No. 6831 at GDMPA’s request, within three months. At GDMPA’s request, this permit may be extended by an additional 12 months. Permits granted prior to this amendment’s entry into force will remain valid throughout the license period and must be transferred to GDMPA within six months. In areas where exploration activities are permitted, operational activities will also be allowed, except for force majeure and restrictive legal provisions.
• After the license is issued, mining activities may continue even if the area subsequently becomes subject to permitting requirements. However, if a cultural asset is identified within the license area, the continuation of mining activities will require the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s favorable opinion.
• The EIA procedures, which form part of the licensing process, will be conducted by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change (MoEUCC), and the opinions of the relevant authorities or the EIA documents required within the scope of the related permitting processes will be coordinated and procured by GDMPA. In addition, the permits issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will be considered an affirmative opinion for EIA purposes. Apart from this, the relevant institutions will submit their opinions within a maximum of three months during the EIA process. If an extension is requested, an additional period not exceeding one month will be granted. The opinion of the institution that completes all its evaluations and does not submit its opinion within these periods will be considered affirmative, and the institutions that have issued the relevant permits during the licensing process will not be entitled to deliver a negative opinion during the EIA process. For mining activities that secure an affirmative EIA decision, the relevant authority will, upon collection of any applicable financial obligations, finalize any remaining procedures within one month at the latest.
• Recent changes introduce significant regulations regarding strategic and critical mines, as follows:
  • Definitions of strategic or critical mines have been established by the Ministry and will be identified in consultation with the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Industry and Technology, the Ministry of Trade and relevant public institutions and organizations.
  • For mining activities related to strategic or critical mines, urgent expropriation can be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Expropriation Law No. 2942.
  • If the amount does not exceed 10% of the previous year’s production, the President may decide that a certain rate or amount of strategic or critical minerals be stockpiled by license holders.
• In cases where the relevant institutions do not grant the necessary permits for Group IV and strategic or critical mines prior to the issuance of licenses in areas listed in Article 7 of the Mining Law, such as special environmental protection zones, national parks, wetlands, wildlife protection areas, cultural and tourism protection and development zones, tourism centers, coastal protection areas, military prohibited areas, etc., the Board will make the final decision on the permit upon the application to be made by the Ministry, within the framework of overriding public interest and taking into account factors including the reserve potential, location, type and contribution to the economy. If the Board rules in favor of the mining activity, the relevant institution will send the permit decision to GDMPA within one month, after which the license will be issued.
• The rehabilitation fee will be equal to the operating license fee. Collected amounts will accrue interest in a time deposit account. Both the rehabilitation fee and accrued interest may only be used for rehabilitation purposes and cannot be seized, pledged or assigned. Other issues regarding interest accrual will be set out by a regulation to be issued by the Ministry.
• GDMPA may suspend production activities until all obligations determined by GDMPA for mining sites are fulfilled to ensure the rehabilitation of the areas where mining activities are carried out.
• For mining licenses with an operating permit, an annual state royalty of at least 50% above the license fee will be collected. Under the previous regime, this amount was equal to the license fee.
• Where mining activities conducted by natural persons or legal entities that are license holders or royalty owners on the effective date of this amendment to meet the electricity needs of the country (i) fall within areas registered as olive groves before the land registry or areas that are physically covered with olive trees, as listed in the Map and Coordinate List annexed to the Mining Law, and (ii) it is not possible to carry out these activities in alternative areas, the Ministry may, considering the public interest, authorize (a) the relocation of the olive trees (with priority given to the district and province where the mining site is located), (b) the conduct of mining activities and (c) the construction of temporary facilities related to those activities.
• All costs and claims arising from the relocation of olive trees will be borne by the party in whose favor the mining activity is permitted. Where it is not feasible to relocate olive trees, the Ministry may still grant permission to carry out mining activities in the relevant area and to construct temporary facilities related to these activities, if, prior to granting authorization, a new olive grove is established in an area determined by the Ministry, based on expert opinions, including those of biologists and agricultural engineers, in accordance with the planting standards, equal in size to the area where mining will occur, and within the same district or province where possible. This new grove must contain at least twice the number of olive trees (including both relocated and non-relocatable trees) as those affected by the mining activity.
• Within the scope of this regulation, for each year in which mining activities are conducted in areas registered as olive groves or physically covered with olive trees, an additional amount equal to the operating license fee will be collected from the license holder to ensure rehabilitation of these areas. These areas must be rehabilitated by planting an equal number of olive trees as the number of olive trees in the area prior to the mining activities. The Ministry will determine the procedures and principles regarding the relocation of olive trees and the establishment of new olive groves.
• Upon the request of the owners whose olive groves have been expropriated, real properties owned by the Treasury (as deemed appropriate by the MoEUCC) and real properties belonging to state economic enterprises (SEE) within the provincial boundaries where the mining site is located, as deemed appropriate by the relevant SEE, may be leased directly for a term of 20 years at 1% of the fee-based value for establishing new olive groves or relocating existing olive trees. Lease agreements may be extended in 10-year increments for lessees who fulfill their maintenance obligations and request an extension.

3. Regulations on environmental legislation

Law No. 7554 also introduced changes to Article 10 of the Environmental Law, which governs the EIA processes. With the amendment, (i) the phrase “or Environmental Impact Assessment Decision Not Required” was removed from Article 10, and (ii) the following sentence was added to the end of the same paragraph — “However, this does not prevent applications for incentives, approvals, permits, and licenses.” The purpose of this amendment is to prevent misunderstanding caused by the previous reference to the “Environmental Impact Assessment Decision Not Required” in the eyes of the public.
In addition, the amendments explicitly clarify that applications for incentives, approvals, permits and licenses may be submitted even before obtaining a positive EIA decision. Therefore, these procedures can now run concurrently within the same time frame.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the amendments introduced by Law No. 7554 in the fields of environment, renewable energy and mining mark an important transformation aimed at accelerating investment processes, enhancing environmental sustainability and effective management of strategic resources. Key objectives, such as the simultaneous execution of EIA processes, the reduction of bureaucratic barriers to renewable energy investments and an increase in environmental compliance in mining activities offer a balanced approach that serves both the investors and the public interest. The new obligations and incentive mechanisms introduced in this context will play a critical role in achieving Türkiye’s energy supply security and environmental responsibility objectives.

^[1] The “Board” refers to the board chaired by the Vice President appointed by the President of the Republic of Türkiye and consisting of the Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, the Minister of Treasury and Finance, the Minister of Industry and Technology, as well as the ministers of other ministries authorized to resolve on permits. The Board’s working procedures and principles will be regulated by a regulation to be issued by the Presidency.